Dat Hunter Exam
by Milye6
Summary: What if Pairo survived the massacre of the Kuurta Clan? And what would happen if he went to the hunter exam? Read to find out! I do not own HxH.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Dat Hunter Exam**

**Note: The Chimera Ant Arc never happened! Chairman Netero is still alive! **

**I do not own HxH**

* * *

It was dark. That's the first thing I remember when I woke up. Then the pain came. I groaned as I sat up to looking around, trying to remember what happened and where I am. I was inside a bush with branches poking at my face. I shook my head, shaking some leaves out of my hair. Thinking hard, I crawled out of the bush, wincing at the pain and wondering why I am in there. Thinking back, I was doing my usual things; doing my chores, reading books, and waiting for Kurapika's return from the Outside World. I was just going to bed when... that's right. That's when that incident happened. I clutch my head, with my eyes shut tight, whispering, "Kurapika, where are you?"

I stood up, shaking a little. It must be a miracle that I survived. I winced at I put weight on foot, remembering that I've sprang it the day before, while I was running away from the... people? They seem more like monsters to me. They killed my brethren one after another, as if they were using magic and ripping out the fallen ones' eyes as they go. I shook my head some more, the memory torturing me. Those people who call themselves the Spiders don't seem like humans at all. One of them had bullets flying out of his fingers, and another had a talking vacuum cleaner. And most importantly, they killed our people without a moment of hesitation. I can't believe people like them exist in the Outside World.

I walk toward the town, which is covered with the blood of our people. I shivered as I saw that the bodies of our people are missing their eyes. With my bad eyesight, I tried to look for any survivors, though it seems that my efforts are in vain. I couldn't find anyone, not even a single bit of life. The trees were crushed, not a bird nor insect was heard. Everything was stained with blood. I cried out when I saw my parents' bodies. I ran, tripping towards them. I sat beside my dead parents, weeping over them. Sniffing, I quietly carried my parents to bury them. When I'm done I thought how Kurapika would react if he saw what happened to us, so I hurried to go bury the others.

The sun was already setting when I finished, and I was starving. I walked to my house to look for any food in there. I gathered as much food and water I could find; crushed bread, half eaten apples, etc. I put what I could find into a sack and looked around town. I must warn Kurapika, I thought, if he sees this, he will definitely go after the Spiders, and I need to stop him. Saying good bye and sorry to my hometown, I started to walk towards the Outside World.

* * *

(7 years later)

I munched my apple as I walked around a town in the Outside World. There are a lot of people there, some are mean, nice, poor, and rich. Looking for Kurapika is hard, 7 years already passed and I hadn't found a clue of him. "Hey, did you heard about this year's Exam?" I heard someone from the back, I looked around and saw two people chatting. "Yeah, the Hunter Exam?" Hunter! A memory flashed in my mind, the one when Kurapika and I was still in the forest and when we saved a nice lady called Shelia. She gave us a book called Dino Hunter from the Outside World. That's what inspired Kurapika and me to go to the Outside World. Interested, I continued to listen to the people talking, "That's the one, I heard that this year's exam will be interesting, are you going? I'm going." "NO way! I'm not cut out to be a Hunter, the exam's too hard dude."

"Um, excuse me mister," I walked up to the two chatting men, "do you know where's the hunter exam is going to take place?"

"Hey, kid, don't you know that you could die in the exam?! It's dangerous!"

"It's okay, I just want to know, that's all."

"Fine, be that way, the boat over there, you see? It'll take you to the exam site, the old man over there is very cranky, so be careful."

"Thank you mister! And I will!" I thanked the two nice men and ran to the ship with the old man.

Seeing the ship up close is really something, I thought as I near the ship. I noticed that the ship was filled with all kinds of people, probably they all want to be Hunters as well. "Um, sir? I heard this ship will take people to the Hunter Exam, can I go on?" I asked the old man.

"Eh? Ah sure, come on board lad," answered the man. "Thank you!" I hurried on to the ship. "Ah, another kid, its been a while since I've carried a kid on board." I heard the old sailor man mumbled. As I got on board, all the people stared at me and one of them called out, "Hey kid! This isn't some playground, hurry'ap and leave! If you don't wanna die!" I just smiled in reply and found a spot to sit. When I sat, the ship started to move when I sat down. I looked around the ship excited for the exam, so many people wants to become a hunter! Getting bored, I started reading my most treasured book, Dino Hunter. Then I fell asleep.

BOOM! I woke with a shake, waking up soaked. "Hey kid, hurry up and go below dock! A huge storm's coming!" one of the sailors yelled at me. I hurried and picked up my things and ran down the stairs to the bottom of the ship. When I got down, I noticed that a bunch of people are sea sick. I stepped pass the people to a spot to continue my reading, saying sorry when I accidentally stepped on someone. When I finished the book for like the hundredth time, one of the sailors came to get me, "Kid, our captain wants to see you." I nodded and walked to the captain who happen to be the old man.

"Hello!" I called as I walked up to him.

"Ah, there you are. I just want to ask you some questions."

"Sure."

"What's ya name kid?"

"Pairo."

"Hump, ok, what a kid like you want to be a Hunter for aye?"

"Um..." I started thinking, "I want to become a Hunter because of this book!" I showed the man the book Dino Hunter.

"Lemme see," said the man and I handed him the book. He flipped through the pages of the book and handed it back to me laughing, "So ya want to become a Dino Hunter?"

"No, I just though being a hunter will be fun! It had been my lifelong dream!" I answered, proud, remembering my adventures with Kurapika. Then my face fell for a second, remembering what made me leave my town. But I continued to smile so the man won't wonder about anything.

The man laughed again, "I like you kid! Ok! I'll take you to the place nearest to the exam site!"

"Thank you sir!"

Finally, after a few hours on the boat, I finally got back on to the land. "Thank you again sir! You're nice!" "Of course I am kid! Lemme tell you something that will help you, ya see that tree over there? Go there first, that's a short cut to the exam site."

"Thank you!"

I ran and waved good bye to the nice old man and turned to the tree. It took me a while to get to a town near to the tree, and then some people with masks came out with an old lady playing some music. Then they stopped and the lady stared to talk, "Exciting… exciting… EXCITING TWO CHOICE QUESTION QUIZ!" I flinched when the lady suddenly shouted. And the people started to play music again. Then they stopped. What a weird bunch. "In order to get to the tree, you need to pass the two choice question quiz. There will be one question in the quiz and the answer is either the two choices, any other answers will be considered incorrect. You only have five seconds to answer the question." The lady continued to talk, "The question is: You have a daughter and a son, and they are kidnaped by some bad people, and you only can save one of them, who will you choose?" I stared at the lady, thinking hard. Then a thought hit me and I smiled at her, not saying a thing. The lady started to count down, "Five, four, three, two, one…" I still didn't do anything nor say anything. I just continued to smile at her. She stared at me for a moment then smiled, "You are correct, you may go through this passage to get to the tree." I bowed at the lady, "Thank you!" and rushed to the passage way with the lady staring after me.

It took even more time for me to get to the tree. When I finally arrived to the tree, there was a small cabin under it. I walked up to the cabin and knocked the wooden door. I waited for someone to open the door when I suddenly heard a crash and a scream. I hurried and opened the door, seeing an animal holding a lady by the neck and a man injured on the floor. When the animal saw me, it jumped through the window and flew off. I ran as fast as I could, which is not very fast and easy, and chased after the animal. When I near the animal, I grabbed out my bokken and throw it at the animal when its attention was somewhere else. I tripped when I tried to catch the lady when the animal dropped her in surprise and ran away. I winced when she landed heavily on me. "Ow…" I groaned, and the lady hurried to get up, "Sorry!" she yelped. "It's okay, are you alright?" I asked her as I got up and grabbed my bokken from the ground. "Yes… is my husband alright?"

"Oh, I forgot to check on him, but he seemed to be alright when I left him."

"Take me to my husband, please!" She begged and her sleeve went up and I saw a tattoo on her arm. She noticed me staring at her tattoo and backed away from me, covering her tattoo.

"Um, miss? Are you sure that you're married? I thought people with that tattoo can't marry…" I asked her and trailed off when she made a creepy smile. Then she giggled and patted my back, "You got me, now let's get back to the cabin." "Ok?" I asked, unsure what is happening and followed her since I don't have a choice. When we got back, I saw that the man was okay and two of those animals that attacked the people. I gasped and jumped back, preparing my bokken. "It's ok, you passed," the lady said to me. I looked at her, confused of what is happening. The animals laughed and started to talk, "Yes, you have passed, being knowledgeable is important in becoming a hunter, we are the navigators and we will take you to the exam site."

"Really!" I exclaimed and sighed, and looked up at the nice navigators and smiled at them, "Thank you!" and bowed. They stared at me for a moment, and then one of the navigators came up to me, "I will take you to there, please hang on to my feet." "OK!" I grabbed on to the navigator's foot and it started to fly.


	2. Chapter 2

It took the whole night to get to the exam site… and luckily I didn't fall off the navigator as it flew. I followed the navigator through a town on an island called Whale Island, I think. Then we got to a small house on top of a hill. "This is the place. Go into the house and talk to the lady in there, and then follow her instructions," the navigator instructed me and I nodded, "OK! Bye Mr. Navigator and thank you!"

I walked into the house, and saw a lady in there cooking. She had short orange hair with a green necklace. I knocked at the door behind me. The lady turned around and my eyes widened when I saw her panda eyes. "Oh, so we have another guest," she said with a smile and yawned, "Hello there, my name is Mito, what's your name?" I hurried and bowed to her, "My name is Pairo, sorry for intruding your home, Mito-san."

"It's okay, since my nephew is the examiner…" she muttered under her breath, "I suppose this can't be helped." She looked up and smiled at me again, "Sorry for my rudeness let me take you to the backyard, there are others wanting to be hunters over there, and here's your tag number." She handed me a tag with the number 507. I put it on to my chest and followed her to the backyard. When she opened the door, I gasped at the sight, looking at my number, there must be 506 other people over there wanting to become hunters. Even with my bad eyesight, I could tell that these people must be all experts in something. Mito-san bowed and turned to go back into her house, I looked after her, wondering how many days she have to put up with this group of people.

I looked around, and then a man jumped off the roof of the house and walked up to me, "Ah, you must be a newbie, never see you here before."

"How can you tell?" I asked the man.

"This is my 38th try in the exam, so I basically know everyone here, except for the newbies." The man said proudly. I stared at him, wondering if that is something to be proud of. He continued to talk, "Anyway, my name is Tompa, what's yours?"

"My name is Pairo," I said, bowing to him, "Um, Tompa-san, if this is your 38th try in the exam, you must know a lot about it right?"

"Yea… basically, but the exam takes place in different places each year and the examiners also change as well so you can never know what you will be tested on."

"Really!"

"Yea, so if you have any questions about the exam, feel free to ask me," he said as he took out two cans of juice, "Hey, how about a toast to our new friendship?" And he handed me one of the cans. I shook my head, "Um, Tompa-san, you don't have to give me the juice, I bring my own water, I can toast with you with it." I took out my water bottle and smiled at him. "Cheers!"

"Uh… ok, cheers!"

I drank some of my water as Tompa-san stared at me. I glanced at him and though, hm… why is everyone staring at the, the nice old me, the lady, the navigators, and now Tompa-san. I looked up at Tompa-san, "Um… Tompa-san, why are you staring at me?"

"Huh? What? Uh, no! I'm not staring at you at all!" Tompa-san scampered and laughed a nervous smile. I stared at him until he stopped laughing, "Ah, to tell the truth, I was staring at your clothes, I thought that they look interesting!"

"Oh! These are the clothes of my tribe!" I told Tompa-san proudly, then thought about my home, way in the forest… I noticed Tompa-san's eye twitched as he stared at me and I put back on my smile, "Hey, Tompa-san, can you tell me about the Hunter Exam?"

"Huh? Oh, sure!" Tompa-san made another nervous laugh, "Normally, there will be 4 to 5 phases in the exam, and they are usually really hard and could kill you as well."

"Oh, no wonder you were proud of your tries! You survived them all without dying! You're so cool Tompa-san!" Tompa-san scratched his head in embarrassment and then a boy about the same height as me with black spiky hair and green clothes came out of Mito-san's house, "Hello there!" He yelled, waving his hands at all 507 participants. I noticed that Tompa-san's eyes were wide as he stared at the boy. The boy continued to talk when everyone's attention was turned to him, "I am Gon Freeces! Your examiner for your first phase! Nice to meet you all!"

I heard Tompa-san grumble when the boy named Gon introduced himself, something like, "Not that mountain kid again." I turned back to him, "Hey Tompa-san, do you know him?"

"Ah, yea, I do… he was in the exam two years ago."

"Really! How many times did he try to become a hunter?"

"One."

"Wow! Just one! He's really amazing!"

Then, Gon-san jumped down and called out to all the participants, "Follow me! I will take you to a place to do phase one!" then ran off. All off the participants ran after the little boy, and I had a hard time keeping up. When we got to our destination, I was almost giving up. Just when I was just about to take a break, Gon-san yelled, "We're here! Come and gather around me and I'll explain what you have to do!" Catching my breath; I walked up to Gon-san to hear what he is going to say.

"Everyone, look at the poster on the big tree over there," Everyone turned to the tree, "That's the list of different kinds of fish in this lake over here. Certain types of fish equals to certain amount of points. You have to catch the fish and keep the fish alive or they don't count any points. The tools are all around the tree go get the tools with your number on them and don't steal anyone else's tools. You can only use the tools, nothing else. The time limit is one day; you have to gather 100 points to pass this phase." He took a deep breath and shouted, "NOW START!"

I said good luck to Tompa-san and hurried and to my assigned tools, which is a big bucket with a fishing rod. As it turns out, everyone have the same tools. What's the use of putting numbers on the tools if they are all the same, I thought to myself, shaking my head. Taking my tools, and ran to the poster on the tree, looking closely to see what fish there are. Then I found a shady spot beside the lake and started to fish. Basically, through the whole day, I fished up 1 point fishes and occasionally 5 points fishes. I filled my bucket with water so the fish will stay alive. Counting my fish, I got 80 one point fishes and 4 five points fishes. The sun was still up high when I collected my fish to 100 points. Hoping that I didn't miscount, I carefully carried the heavy bucket to Gon-san, "Gon-san, here are my fishes."

"Woo! The second person to finish! And you don't need to call me Gon-san, just call me Gon!" He said cheerfully. Then he started to count the fishes, "1…2…3…4…5… ah! You have 84 fishes so that is… um… 80 of them are 1 points… 4 of them are 5 points… er… 120 points!"

"Eh… Gon? Isn't it 100 points?"

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Gon stuck out his tongue in embarrassment, "I'm not good at mental math."

Gon then stared at my cloths, "Hey, those clothes look familiar… ah! They look so much like the type of clothes that Kurapika wears!"

"Kurapika?! You know him?!"

"Yeah! He's my friend, are you also his friend?"

"I'm Pairo, we're childhood friends! Thank goodness! I thought that with his nature, he won't be able to make any friends!"

"Pairo?! You sound familiar… ah! Kurapika talks a lot about you, you know? I'm go glade that you're alive! I thought that you died in the… um…" Gon trailed off when he saw my face fell. So Kurapika thought I was dead? Wait, if Gon knows about what happened, then Kurapika must also know what happened! Oh no! He must be chasing after the Spiders right now! When I noticed Gon was worried about me, I lifted up my face and smiled, "Really? Well, now I can surprise Kurapika that I'm alive!"

"Kurapika will be so surprised and happy if he sees you! Ok! I will not tell Kurapika yet, and let's surprise him!" Gon said, happy that I didn't get angry. I thought why I would be angry, and then I remember what Kurapika would react if he was in this situation and smiled to myself. Gon sure knows Kurapika well.

We chatted as one participant after another came to get their fish checked and counted. When the sun finally set, Gon got up and called, "TIME'S UP! 487 participants passed!" Then the wind picked up as a blimp came flying down to land. A little green person came out and said, "Hello everyone, I am Beans, please come into the blimp for your second phase," and then walked back into the blimp with everyone chasing after him, including Gon. I noticed that a bunch of people came to see the blimp leave and Gon yelled, "BYE EVERYONE!" "GOOD BYE GON! BE SAFE" The people called back, waving their hands. Gon is sure popular.


	3. Chapter 3

All 487 participants arrived in a big room in the blimp as it flew, and Gon disappeared once we got on the blimp. I tried looking for him until I saw Tompa-san standing around. "Oh! Tompa-san!" I ran up to him and as he turned to me, "Oh! Pairo!" he made a nervous laugh at me, as if he's afraid of me. He sure likes to make nervous laughs, I thought. "Good thing you passed phase one! I want to ask you more questions about the hunter exam!"

"Oh, really? What do you want to know?"

When I was just about to answer, Beans-san came back and started to talk, "Ahem! Participants please wait here and take a break for a moment, phase two will start soon and we will announce it when the time comes. For now, please wait for our announcement." Then he walked away again. I turned back to Tompa-san to answer his question, "Um, I want to know how many people usually pass the exam."

"Well, I've never got to the final phase before so I don't really know how many people do pass the exam."

"I see…" I sighed, wondering if I stand a chance to pass the exam with my bad legs and eyes, I guess I'll have to try my best to survive and pass. I looked up and asked another question to the nervous Tompa-san, "Then do you know the chance of a newbie to pass the exam?"

"Hm, I guess it is one in every 5 years. Sometimes really strong newbies just show up."

"Gon must be one of them right?"

"I guess so, seeing he was a newbie when he passed."

I stared at Tompa-san for a moment, noticing that he was carefully choosing his words, as if he was afraid of angering me. I frowned, why would I be angry for no reason? When I was just about to ask another question to Tompa-san, Beans-san came back with a person behind him, but I couldn't see him clearly since he's so far away and in the shadows. Then the person stepped forward, but all I could see was his blonde hair, wait, blonde hair? I tried to jump to see the whole person, but the other participants are blocking my way. I sighed at my height and tried to look under the people to see the person. I heard Tompa-san gasped and grumble at the same time when he saw the person, which made me want to see even more. Then I caught a glimpse of his clothes, it is blue with patterns that look like the ones on my clothes… I gasped, "Could he be…?" Tompa-san glanced at me then back to the man, as if comparing us. Maybe he noticed that our clothes looked alike. I made another attempt at jump and see the whole person when he started to talk, "Hello, I am your phase two examiner for the hunter exam." I gasped again, his voice… sounds so much like… my strained my ears to heard more, "My name is Kurapika." I gasped for the third time in a row and my eyes widened. Tompa- san grumbled some more. "Kura…pika" I whispered his name, I found him! I was so overjoyed, I finally found Kurapika! And he became a hunter too! Thank goodness that he isn't chasing the Spiders right now! I was so grateful that I could have cried out if he hadn't continued to talk, "In phase two, you will be having a written test." All the participants groaned when they heard him. I only nodded; this is the Kurapika I know. "Stop groaning! You also need brains if you want to become a hunter, not only muscles." I nodded some more at his words, this is defiantly the Kurapika I know.

I heard Tompa-san grumble even more, and I turned to him to ask if he met Kurapika in the hunter exams, and he happened to be scowling hard when I did, "Um, Tompa-san, did you meet Kurapika in the hunter exams?"

"Huh?" Tompa-san turned to me and forced down his scowling, "Ah, I know that dude; he's with the first phase examiner when I met him. And he also passed the exam with only one try. You know that guy?"

"Wow!" I turn back to Kurapika's direction, "Are you also friends with Kurapika as well? We're childhood friends and I was searching for him!"

When I turned back to Tompa-san when he didn't reply, his eyes were wide and he made a really nervous laugh, "Ah ha ha… Kurapika isn't much of a fan of mine…"

I just laughed light heartedly at Tompa-san's nervousness, "No wonder you were always nervous around me, it's okay, Kurapika can be bad tempered sometimes!"

"AHEM!" Kurapika coughed loudly to stop the groaning from the other participants, "don't worry, there will only be multiple choice questions in the exam, and the computers will be grading the exams as well. There will only be one page in the exam and you will have 2 hours to finish the test. I'm being nice here right now so don't complain!" I only smiled at Kurapika's somewhat harsh words; it's been so long since I've seen him again! "You will go into your own separate rooms to write your exam, so no cheating and the questions will be based on the basic information a hunter needs to know. Your rooms will have your tag number on it so go into you assigned room. In order to pass this phase, you need to pass the test, which is basically over 60%. Also, if you don't finish the test on time, you fail the exam. Now go!"

Once Kurapika finished explaining, he walked away and Beans-san took over, "Ok, participants please come this way to your assigned rooms."

I walked happily to my assigned room, too happy to see Kurapika to worry about the exam. When I got to my seat, the time limit on the clock on the wall started to count down, so I hurried and flipped the paper and picked up the pencil to start the test. I wrote my name and tag number on the top of the paper, disappointed that the computer will be correcting the test and not Kurapika. When I looked at question one, grateful that the words are big for my poor eyesight, and noticed something familiar about it. "Hey… isn't that question part of the written test to go to the Outside World? So Kurapika still remembers it," I whispered to myself and carefully filled in the bubble for the answer. When I looked at the next few questions on the test and answered it, I found it quiet easy and frowned, did Kurapika become more merciful and made the test easy? When I look at the 5th question of the test, I smiled to myself. Nope, Kurapika didn't become merciful and I heard some very loud groans from the other rooms. The other participants must have gotten to the hard questions as well. I glanced through the rest of the test, and nearly dropped my jaws, these questions are hard! Luckily, I've done some studying the past 7 years and training, so I know most of the answers.

Finally, 2 hours have passed and I finished the test on time. I sighed; Kurapika was really being nice when he said that you will have 2 hours to do the test. I watched at the test as it gets sucked into a machine to get corrected and the announcer blared, "Beans speaking, while your test is being corrected, please go to the big room to wait for the results, repeat, while your test is being corrected please go to the big room to wait for the results." I stood up and walked back into the big room and found Tompa-san coming out as well.

"Tompa-san! How did you do in your test? Did you finish? Were there written tests before in the past hunter exams?"

"Ah! Pairo, um," Tompa-san looked annoyed at first but then put back on a smile, "Oh, the test was hard (as expected from the Blondie, grumbled Tompa, but Pairo didn't hear him)! And I did finish the test luckly!"

"Good!" I looked around for a spot to sit down and sat against a wall, "Boy! Kurapika didn't even change a bit!" Tompa-san looked like he was forcing a smile on his face; I guess the test really hit him hard. When I sat down Tompa-san quickly walked away saying, "Ah, I need to go somewhere, bye!"

I tilted my head, Tompa-san looked like he was in a hurry to escape from an annoying person, I guess he needs some time to cool down from the test. I looked around to see if I can find Kurapika anywhere but I seem to be out of luck. I stood up and walked around, thinking that I would get a better chance if I move around. I moved along the wall at first, since it was less crowded, when I noticed a door that said, "STAFF MEMBERS ONLY" in red. I pricked my ears and heard some whispers at the door and pushed my ear at the cold metal.

"Kurapika!" I blinked, that must be Gon, so he was there all along.

"Oh, Gon!" That's Kurapika's voice!

"Hey! How do you think of this year's participants? I saw another kid this year!"

"Really? Ah, I'm disappointed in this year's participants; they kept on groaning all the way through, they're even more annoying than Killua."

"Ah… It's not like I can't understand their feelings…" I giggled a little, imagining Kurapika sighing and shaking his head with Gon sticking out his tongue with one of his hands rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, at least I'm not as bad as our examiners for the second phase, at least 100 participants passed. That's more than the time we're taking the exam." I sighed at this, so people did pass Kurapika's ridiculously hard test. I thought for a while, so Kurapika took the Exam at the same time as Gon, and they both pass, so that means more than one participants can pass!

"But that's still a lot of people who failed; I don't think I would pass if I was taking that test."

"Still, if you want to become a hunter, you need to know things."

"Ah…"

I heard Kurapika laugh a little, so he's happy with his life in the Outside World. I smiled as I prepared to get up and leave, it's bad for people to be eaves dropping.

"Hey, Kurapika, do you still have work to do after this?" This statement from Gon caught my attention so I put my ear back on to the door.

"Yes, I still need to find…" Kurapika trailed off. I frowned, what does Kurapika need to find? He doesn't know if I am alive so it can't be the doctor to fix my eyes and legs, then… I remembered the incident 7 years ago, and a thought hit me. So he is finding the Spiders for revenge! Maybe he's also finding the eyes as well! My train of thought was interrupted when Gon started talking again,

"Oh, I thought we can go meet Leario and, er, have a reunion party with him. We haven't seen each other for so long…" Leario? Wow, Kurapika really improved his skills in making friends these years.

"Sorry Gon, but I have to go back to work. Anyway, those people out th-" Kurapika suddenly cut off his sentence and the door suddenly flung open, causing me to fall over to the ground on to my butt. When I look up, I stared at Kurapika's eyes, and he stared back at me, "P-pairo?" he whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

"P-pairo?" he whispered.

Everything fell silent, only the sound of the engine of the blimp roaring quietly in the distance. Gon ran up when Kurapika opened the door, but paused in running motion and mouth hanging open along with his eyes bugging out. As I stared at Kurapika, I noticed something different about him. His eyes looked… different… and he also looked paler… well, I guess anyone would look pale when seeing your long lost childhood friend suddenly appear in front of you, but still… something seems off. His hair style also looked different; I like the old one better. I noticed that Kurapika and I stared at each other for at least 5 minutes or more, so I raised my arm. "Hi, Kurapika," I said in a small voice.

"PAIRO?!"

All 487 participants snapped their eyes to Kurapika, their examiner, and gave him a suspicious look when they noticed me sitting in from of him. Kurapika noticed the suspicion and straightened his back, moving his eyes away from me and acted like he doesn't know me, "Ahem, sorry, that was one of my co-workers just now," he glanced at Gon, whose mouth is still hanging open, "now I would like to announce the participants who passed the phase. I have to admit, I am very disappointed with you bunch, but here goes…" he listed the numbers of the participants who passed, from the ones who have the highest grade to the lowest. I widened my eyes when I heard my number came first, I got the highest score in Kurapika's test! But now's not the time to celebrate, so I quietly moved back into the crowd. I listened carefully for any numbers of people I know, and fortunately, Tompa-san seem to have passed the test.

I looked for Tompa-san, and finally spotted him. "Tompa-san!" I called and he turned, "Good thing you passed! I still have lots of questions to ask you!"

"Ah, I guess it can't be helped, what questions do you want to ask?" Tompa-san said, quivering, but I guessed it's from relief.

"Um," before I could say anything, Kurapika finished reading his list.

"So," Kurapika took a deep breath after reading the numbers, "only 100 participants have passed. Honestly, who do you think you are, thinking you can pass the exam without any knowledge? I thought I made the test easy enough, but no one got a perfect score. The highest score is 90 points, and the others are only barely passing. But I guess there's no use lecturing you bunch so I will not say anything."

A sweat drop appeared on my head, but you already said a lot, I thought, and the test was nowhere to easy. I glanced at Gon, who also seem to agree with my thought. Beans-san came out of the staff room and clapped his hands, "Attention everyone! We are almost to phase 3 now, the participants who passed, please come this way, and the ones who failed will stay in this room and wait." He turned and the 100 participants left followed him to an even larger room with a garage door as a wall. I gulped when I saw it, hoping that we won't have to jump off the blimp. I glanced back at the door that connects to the room Kurapika was in, hoping that we will get a chance to talk soon.

Suddenly, the blimp shacked and the engine stopped roaring. "We're here everyone! Please wait patiently for the next examiner," Beans-san bowed and walked away. When a loud creak was to be heard, and the garage door started to open slowly with the sound of motors running.

As the door opens, bright light shined in that I have to narrow my eyes to see the figure in the light. The figure's shadow stretched on the floor of the blimp, and the sound of foot stomps vibrated through the blimp. My heart was pounding so fast as I held my breath, and all the participants must be doing the same. When the garage door fully opened, and all 100 participants' eyes have adjusted to the light, all we saw, is not what we expected, which made me feel bad, but a small short boy about my height with blue cat-eyes and white bushy hair, and he was carrying a half-eaten chocolate bar.

Everyone was silent with shock; Tompa-san looked especially scared, maybe he met that boy in one of the many hunter exams he have participated in. I turned and whispered to his ear, "Hey, Tompa-san, do you know him?"

"Huh? Ah, yes I do, he's a fre- I mean a very strong opponent, and you don't want to be his enemy. He's one of the id- I mean Gon's friends."

"I see…" I turned back to the boy, who seemed to be scanning the area and his cold gaze stopped at where Tompa-san and me is. Then, like a flash of lightening, he's in front of us. He narrowed his eyes at Tompa-san, as if trying to remember where he seen his face before, then his mouth opened and spoke, "Hey~ Aren't you that juice guy whose super annoying? Can I have more of your juice?"

Tompa-san looked super nervous when the white haired boy talked to him and couldn't utter a word, then the boy made an annoyed face, "Tsk, lame, you never change old geezer, trying to crush another rookie again?"

"Huh?" I glanced at Tompa-san to see if the boy's telling the truth, but before I could to anything, the boy took a bit of his chocolate, "Hump, you're no fun. I'm just teasing you." A sweat drop appeared on my head, you don't look like you're joking, I thought.

Then the boy snapped his fingers as if he remembered something, "Oh yeah!" he turned to the other participants who seem to be in a trance, "Sorry for the late intro, I'm Killua, your 3rd phase _examiner._" He emphasized the word examiner, as if to remind them that he can take away their life if they don't follow his rules. Then, one of the participants seems to regain his senses first, "Hey! What's this! Isn't this the hunter exam? Why are KIDS being the examiners? I want REAL hunters to be my examiner!" Suddenly, before the man could finish his statement, Killua-san appeared in front of the man and grabbed his shirt and lifted him up without much effort. I gulped. Killua-san made an evil smile at the man, "Well, too bad for you, I am a REAL hunter that can kill you in a second without you making any sound. Keep that in mind please." And he took another bit in his chocolate and through the man down hard to the ground. I made another gulp; do all hunters have to be that strong?

Killua-san turned back to the other participants, "Do you all understand? Or would you like me to give you another example?" He eyed Tompa-san. All the participants were too scared to talk so they all shook their head at the same time. Killua-san frowned, "That's no fun… I though being an examiner would be more fun than this, oh well, as long you get the idea. The fun part will come soon enough," He made another evil glint in his eyes, "Come with me." He walked out the door and all the participants followed him wordlessly.

When we all got out of the blimp, which is preparing to leave, I gapped at the large gate in front of me. Something clicked in my head and I knew it was the "Testing Gate", otherwise known as the "Doors to Hades" to some people, the entrance to the Zoldyck family's property. It was said that nobody came out alive after entering the gate. It was the first time I've seen the gate with my own eyes, so I couldn't help but be amazed, even if it isn't that clear. One of the participants called out, as if the gate made him forgot about his fears earlier, "Hey! Isn't that the 'Doors to Hades'?" Killua-san looked at the man who spoke and tipped his head as if confused, "No, it's the testing gate, not the 'doors to whatever it is'." An old man came out of the small security place at the side of the gate and whispered something to Killua-san's ears. Killua widened his eyes and said "Oh" in reply and turned back to the participants, "Sorry, yeah, it is the 'Doors to Hades', but if you considered the old man as Hades… hehehe." He made an evil laugh which made me nervous, is he going to make us do something hard?

Killua-san stopped laughing and finished is chocolate in one bite, "But, sigh, do I really have to talk so much? Anyway, since I am the examiner, I guess I'll have to talk. So basically, the 3rd phase will take place in this place, understand?" He looked at the participants with a bored expression on his face, "I thought that exam I took was too easy, if you want to be a hunter, you need to do something harder. Like venturing into a home of assassins, pro assassins and a family of them, and coming out alive." I gulped, hoping that is not what we're going to do, though I had no hope. Tompa-san also looked as white as a sheet.

"Tsk, this is so boring, can't I just chuck them into the place and see what happens?" he mumbled to himself, and I prayed that he won't do that, and all the other participants seem to also be very nervous as well, Killua-san opened one of his eyes and made a loud laugh, "HAHAHAHAH! You people get scared way too easily; Gon and Kurapika went too easy on them! They won't become hunters like this," He turned down his voice, "Don't worry, I'll test you guys to make sure you're worthy enough to be a hunter. I will now explain the rules of the phase, blah blah blah." He put on an evil face.

"So, basically, to make things simple, you have to go through the testing gate, survive in the Zoldyck property, find the treasure, and then come out. Your time limit is… hum… let's make it hard, two days." He made the number two with his fingers. When all of the participants were about to complain, Killua-san started to talk again, "And keep this in mind, Gotoh will give you the map of the property open for you to search for the treasure, which is this," He picked something out of his pocket, a chocolate robot. "Find one of them on the map. If you cross the boarders of the map, you die. Make any sneaky moves in the place, you die. Break my rules, you die. But you can steal other people's treasure, that's allowed. There will be butlers roaming the area; keeping an eye on you guys so don't try anything stupid. The butlers each have some chocolates, so if you meet their standards, you get to have one to bring back for me," He made a very cat like face, "If you do not wish to risk your life, you may run away now and never come back, and if you come back without a chocolate, you will not die, but get tortured by me. I can then finally have some fun. GOTOH!" He called for a butler. Then, one of the participants raised his hand in question, "Um… how did you get permission to use the Zoldyck's property?" Killua-san looked at the man who asked the question and sighed, "Can't you just follow the rules quietly? But I guess if you really want to know… what if I'm one of the Zoldycks?" He made an evil smile.

"Um…"

"Well, I guess it won't hurt to tell right Gotoh?"

"No, they might try to do things."

"Fine… but it would be more fun that way…"

"The lady would get mad."

"Hey! Didn't I tell you not to tell mother?"

"I told the Master and he happened to have told the Lady."

"Darn you old man… she's probably crying right now, saying that I've grown up or what not."

* * *

(Zoldyck's family place)

Mother: Oh my god! Killua have really grown so assassin-like! *blows nose* already torturing people!

Milluki: yeah yeah…

Mother: Shut up Mil!

Milluki: quiet down*

Silvia: Shut up people, I want to see how Killu would torture them.

Mother: Ah! You are interested to!

Zeno: hm… Very surprising…

Silvia: yeah, I never knew that Killu would ask to use a bit of land for the exam.

Zeno: he is improving…

Mother: oh oh! My Killua!

Silvia: Quiet down.

All: quiet down*

* * *

(Back to the exam)

"Anyway, is everything prepared Gotoh?"

"Yes, young master"

"Good, give them the maps"

The butler called Gotoh-san went up to each of the participants to give them the maps. When Gotoh gave me a map, he stared at me for a moment, but only for a moment so quick that I wasn't sure that if he stared or not. I looked at the map, amazed that the Zoldycks allowed Killua-san to use so much land. Then I got nervous, wondering if I could survive in a family of assassins' territory.

"Ok!"Killua-san yawned, "Let me review the rules in case you don't want to die. If you don't want to risk your life, please leave now." Nobody moved. "Then I guess you're all fools. Anyway, if you come back with no chocolate, you get tortured. If you leave the map's boarders, you die. If you do anything suspicious, you die. If I don't like you, you die. If you use the red door over there like you want to cheat, you die. If the butlers don't like you, you die. If you meet an assassin in there, you die. So yeah. You have to pass through the testing gate, or you'll die. Here's a demonstration of how to open the gate." He put his hands in his pockets and walked up to the gate. I wondered how a small boy is supposed to open a big gate, even with his super strength. Then he put both of his hands on the gat, then push, the door creaked and groaned, and the gate with the number 3 opened. When Killua-san relaxed, the door closed aromatically. Killua turned and smirked, "yea see now? Now the phase starts."


	5. Chapter 5

I stared at Killua-san, not sure what to do, how am I supposed to open the gate by myself? All the other participants seem to be confused as well until Killua-san seem to have remembered something, "Ah, sorry, forgot to tell you guys something, you people are too weak to open to gate yourself, so I'm gunna be very generous. You folks can work as a team, and just to make things more interesting, you can do anything you want to the other participants inside the gate. So killing is allowed, since this is a family of assassin's territory, not like I care." Once he finished speaking all the participants seem to have split into groups. "Hey! Not so fast, even if you work as teams, each person still has to bring back one chocolate robot!" Killua-san shouted at the participants and walked away, into the security room beside the gate, "Met me here when you get back with the treasure."

I looked at Tompa-san who happen to be very popular, he already have a big group with him. I walked up to him, "Hey, Tompa-san, can I join your group? Though I might not be very useful…"

"Ah? Oh, huh, huh… sure why not? We're all a team here!"

"Thank you Tompa-san!" As I thank Tompa-san, the other participants seem to find something funny, "Ha…. Ha… Tompa's at it again, I'm starting to feel sorry for that rookie…"

I tilt my head, what the other participants said to each other seem to have matched with what Killua-san said to Tompa-san earlier… huh, but then Killua-san said he was just joking… but then is tone doesn't really sound like it. I shrugged the confusion out of my head; no used thinking too much about it, doing that would only make me even more confused.

I scanned the clearing, seeing some participants trying to push the gate open, but all of their hard work in vain. I thought for a while, thinking how Killua-san opened the gate, using both hands and pushing… then I look at how other people pushed the gate, some even tried to pull the gate apart. Tompa-san was disguising with his group, finding a way to open the gate. Not joining in to talk, I continued to observe, comparing and contrasting what Killua-san did and what the participants are doing; Killua pushed the gate open, one hand on each side of the gate, while the participants are pushing with all their might, with their backs, arms, anything. Then a light flicked on my head. I turned quickly to the group to join in their discussion, excited to share my idea but only to bump on to one of the group members.

"Hey! Watch where ya going twerp!" growled the man I bump.

"Sorry! I will defiantly watch next time sir! I'm truly sorry!" I bowed many times in apology to the man.

"Well, aren't you in our group? If yur gunna join, ya better do somethin' or you're gunna get kicked out."

"I know sir! I was just thinking a way to open the gate, seeing that all the other participants' work is in vain, and so I thought up of an idea!"

"Well, spit it out then!" called another member of the group and snickered.

Unfazed by the men's bad manners, I smiled, "You see, Killua-san opened the gate with both hands pushing on both sides, while the other participants just pushed randomly at the gate. If we push at the both sides of the gate at the same time, maybe we can open the gate."

"Ya mean we all push at the gate at the same time?"

"Yes! Exactly! The force put onto the gate has to be even too!"

"Sounds reasonable, but how are you so sure it would work?"

"I'm not sure, but just give it a try!"

All the men grunted and Tompa-san agreed with me, "Let's go with his plan and see fit works or not, better try then be sorry." Then he sent some whispers to the other men in the group, and he seems to be giving them something, but I just assumed that he was just encouraging the reluctant men.

I smiled widely at that Tompa-san agreed to use my plan, and the group marched up to the door. "On the count to three, we push," Instructed Tompa-san, "One, two … three!"

"PUSH!" yelled the men and at the same time, we push at the door. "PUSH! PUSH!" The door creaked, and the men seemed too intent to notice, "PUSH! PUSH! PUSH!"

CREAK! BOOM! The first gate opened and all the men tumbled into the assassins' territory. BOOM! The gate closed behind the group automatically, leaving the group panting and staring. Everyone's faces seem to be filled with surprise, as if they didn't expect my plan to work. I was quite surprised myself as well, I shook my head to get myself out of daze and stood up with a big smile on my face, my plan worked! All the other men stayed in a daze a little longer, like they could never dream of my plan working, Tompa-san looked the most surprised. Then all the men got up and shook themselves out of daze and scanned the area that is rumored that no one could get out alive. I didn't noticed it at first, but the forest that lay out before us sent shivers down my back, this is no normal forest, and I can feel that something is watching us from a distance.

"A-ahem," Tompa-san coughed to get the men's attention, "since the examiner said that each of us needs to bring our own choc- I mean treasure back, I suggest we split up here and gather back here in two days' time to open the gate and get out."

All the other men nodded in agreement, so I had no choice but to go on with Tompa-san's plan, though I have low confidence that I would be about to survive alone. The other men looked at Tompa-san with a look of disbelieve, as if they couldn't believe Tompa-san was the one who proposed the idea. I guess Tompa-san's impression on the other men is a very dependent man.

"O-ok, let's head out and good luck to you all."

I walked up Tompa-san, "Hey, Tompa-san-" before I could ask a question, he already dashed off waving his hand at me. I blinked; he seemed excited to run away from me, or maybe excited to explore a bit of the infamous assassins' land. I shrugged, I guess he wants to explore the land himself, I hope he won't venture out of the map's boarders. I took out the map tried my best to read it, and sighed, I can't even see the map clearly, how am I supposed to survive in a family of assassin's land, the Zoldycks' land, when I can't even read a map? I guess I'll have to try my luck, and survive too, so I can see Kurapika again. I started to walk, being very cautious of my surroundings. I sniffed the air, hoping to catch a scent of chocolate, and sighed, I'm not a dog, and how am I supposed to smell chocolate in this dense forest filled with mystery and danger?

CRASH! I fell on to the ground from the force. Rubbing my nose, I stretched out my hand to see what's in front of me, just to feel hard tree bark. I sighed again, shaking my head, I am really helpless alone, normally back at home, Kurapika would be by my side to keep me from crashing into trees in the forest… sigh, why am I so helpless? No use sulking now, I got up from under the tree I just hit and patted my butt from the dirt. Then I sensed a presence near me and I wiped my head towards the presence, "Who's there?" I noticed the presence seemed to be shocked that I knew that it is there and attempted to run away. I took out my bokken and jumped towards the presence, careful not to bump into anything while I jumped and hit it with my bokken.

"OUCH!" yelled the presence. I blinked; I recognize that voice, Tompa-san? I jumped off what I found was Tompa-san and hurried to apologies. "I'm sorry Tompa-san; I didn't realize that was you… I'm really sorry!" I bowed at Tompa-san nonstop, afraid I might have hurt him.

"Ah, it's okay, it's my fault that you attacked me," Tompa-san said.

"Huh? Why was it your fault? I'm the one who attacked you without realizing earlier!"

"Uh… Anyway, fancy meeting you here!"

"Hey Tompa-san," I lifted my head and stopped my bowing, "why were you surprised that I knew you were there and tried to run away?"

"Well, I didn't know you were there and I got scared when you yelled 'who's there' so I thought that might be one of the butlers that were out there hunting down the participants."

I narrowed my eyes a little, not sure if Tompa-san was lying or not. I shrugged; I can't suspect Tompa-san after he helped me so much in the exam, "Oh, sorry that I scared you, I thought you were one of the butlers too. See you around!" I walked off waving at Tompa-san, knowing he might want to find the treasure himself since he was the first to run when the group separated. Then I heard a helicopter flying somewhere above me…

* * *

(In the helicopter)

Gon: Killua~ You're too mean!

Killua: Well, you're too nice. You guys managed to survive in my family's place, and you guys are hunters, so hunters SHOULD be able to survive as well.

Gon: But… to find chocolate for you…?

Killua: shrugs* Hunters should be able to face dangers and find treasures as well, traveling in the unknown. What else should I do? I'm being pretty nice; I could've told them to do something harder for fun.

Gon: You got a point, but… *glances in Kurapika's direction*

Killua: *Glances with Gon and smirks* why's Kurapika staring so intently at the screen? Did someone catch his attention?

Gon: uh… Well… *Whispers about Pairo to Killua*

Killua: *widens eyes* What? I thought all of them except Kurapika got killed by the troupe?

Kurapika: *Glares at Killua and Gon with red eyes* **Hm?**

(In Gon's and Killua's Point of View: There are two red glowing dots glaring at us!)

Killua: A-ahem, if he really is what Kurapika thinks he is, he should be able to pass this phase alive, being a Kuurta and all.

Kurapika: *Turns back to screen, watching Pairo* hm…

Killua and Gon: *sweat drops* whew… that was close.

* * *

(Back to Pairo)

I sneezed and rubbed my nose. Was someone talking about me? Hm… no, it must be that something tickled my nose. I continued down a path and found a river. I walked to the river to get a drink of water, since my water bottle was empty a long time ago. I took out my water and refilled it, and decided to take a break and rest by the river for a while. I sighed, wondering what Kurapika could be doing right now… I splashed water at my face. Stop thinking, concentrate in the exam for now, then I can meet Kurapika again. I closed my eyes to rest, and then I sensed the same presence again. This can't be a consequence, this is the tenth time I sensed Tompa-san's presence now. Deciding to not to do anything yet and see what Tompa-san might do, I stayed in my original position, but fully aware of my surroundings.

Then the night came. I opened my eyes, noticing that Tompa-san's presence is now gone. Maybe he went away. Then I felt a shiver crawl down my back, greatly regretting for resting for such a long time, I could've used my time wisely and find a place to stay for the night. The night in the forest seemed so much more dangerous than in the day. Gathering my things, which are surprisingly still there, I started my search once more. Being even more cautious than I was in the day, I crept through the forest, each movement made with care. Then I heard a scream and a shout, probably from the other participants. I bit my lip, what could be in this forest that is giving this eerie feeling? Are the assassins out in this forest at night? No way, did Killua-san ask one of them to go hunt down some of the participants? Or are the butlers even stronger than I thought?

Then I felt a different presence with a sound of a twig snapping. I heightened my senses, preparing for what might come out; this is not Tompa-san, though did I felt his presence again while I was walking. This presence is not one of a human… something bigger and stronger.

Taking out my bokken and getting into defense mode, I cautiously moved forward, careful in not making a sound. Then I felt the presence disappear, and I sighed in relief, that thing must be gone now. But then, the presence came back, much stronger than before, and it sent a very bad feeling down my back. I turned slowly, hesitating on what I might see behind me. When I finally turned a full turn to see behind me, I was frozen to my spot. From what I can see… which is not much, I can tell there is something big, furry, and strong behind me. I gritted my teeth as the thing panted at me, staring at me with cold black eyes. I closed my eyes shut, though it didn't really make much of a difference for me, staying as still as possible, hopping that thing in front of me is a wild animal that will go away if I stayed still. The thing sniffed me for a moment, making be hold my breath. I knew I have to try my luck, there's no use running away, that thing will defiantly catch me if I do. I tried to calm down my fear, knowing that the thing could probably smell my fear and attack me.

The thing stared at me motionlessly and expressionlessly for a while, as it stared at me, I kept my eyes shut tight, almost positively sure that my life would end right then. Then the thing did the most unexpected thing, turning and walking away. I collapsed in relief when the thing's presence disappeared, landing heavily on my butt. I sighed, looking in the direction where the thing disappeared, tired from the experience of near death. It had been so long since I've been so close to death… What is that thing anyway?

After a few minutes of rest I got back up to continue my search. Knowing if I don't keep moving, something else, probably even more worse than the thing just now. Moving along with my bokken ready in my hands, I tried to search for the chocolate in the dark. I heard even more screams after a few minutes, including the sound of flesh being ripped apart, and I closed my eyes in despair, remembering the incident seven years ago, what made me leave my home. The situation just matched too well.

Closing my eyes had been a mistake. Images of the incident flashed through my mind; the blood sprayed everywhere, the cries of the people, the merciless murderers ripping out the fallen ones' eyes, the bloody empty eye sockets… the despair and fear resurfaced as more images came. I shook, falling to my knees as more of the memory resurfaced, gripping my head and dropping my bokken, trying to push the memory back. I screamed as the pain resurfaced the pain of leaving my people, the pain all the clan had felt, all of it. Trembling and shaking, I gripped my head harder, my eyes wide open and glowing scarlet without notice, only seeing what happened seven years ago.

Then I heard a rustle in the bushes beside me and I jumped back blindly, grabbing my bokken with a death grip, "**WHO'S THERE?!**" Not even bothering to see if I know the figure standing before me, I slashed at it.

"Hey! Wait! It's me, Tompa! What happened?" The figure called out, but all I could hear are the words of one the spiders as they kill the tribe.

"**WHY ARE YOU HERE? DID YOU COME BACK TO KILL ME TOO?!**" I screamed at the figure, slashing and attacking it blindly, scarlet eyes glowing and tears running down my cheeks. Then I turned to run, like how I did seven years ago, away from the figure that I see as a spider, away from the screams of despair.

I ran and ran, all the way back to the river where I rested while it was day. I stopped to catch my breath, the scarlet and fear ebbed away from my eyes and I slump down to my knees. The screams echoed in my ears, until it too also faded away. I noticed I still had a death grip on the bokken, and I had to pry my fingers to let it go. Loosening my grip, I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. I stared at the river and listen to the rushing water, which really did a calming effect on me.

Suddenly, I felt a presence similar to the one of a spider, and I moved my head up blankly at the new figure standing across the river. I blinked, trying to take in the figure. The moon was shining brightly, so I could make out a very tall figure with long black hair. I blinked again, and fear hit me. The memory resurfaced once more, remembering that one of the spiders had long black hair as well. My eyes turned scarlet once more as I gipped my bokken with even more intensity, jumping back on to my feet, shaking a little as I did. The tall figure stared back at me as I glared at him, seeing the Spider who had long black hair. The figure blinked at me as I continued to glare, expecting a fight. Then a phone rang and the figure made a swift movement to pick up his phone.

"Hello? Yes… I see… I will be right there."

The figure put his phone back into his pocket and not giving me another glance, he disappeared from my sight. I blinked as the scarlet faded and fell back onto my knees, dropping my bokken. My head hurts, my arms hurt, my whole body hurts. Slightly picking up my bokken, I crawled under a nearby bush and fainted.

* * *

(Meanwhile in the helicopter)

Kurapika: *stares intently at the screen, trying to find Pairo* (What's happening? I heard screams down there… but I can't see what's happening down there. It's too dark.)

Gon: *Glances at screen* Hey! What's that! It looks like two red dots, though I am not sure… are they flashlights?

Killua: *whispers to Gon* Er… Gon? I think they are…

Gon: Gasps!

Kurapika: *Glances at Gon* Where are the red dots?

Gon: Eh… There…

Kurapika: *Looks* (Huh, there are really red dots down there… but they seem too faint to be flashlights… wait a second… that color**… Pairo?)**

Killua: Crap, he's eyes turned red again…

Gon: Uh oh…

Kurapika: *Glances at Gon and Killua with red eyes* **What?**

Gon and Killua: Nothing…

Kurapika: *turns back to screen*

Gon and Killua: Whew…

Kurapika: *Worried* (Pairo hardly ever let his scarlet eyes come out… what happened down there made Pairo like that? I should ask Killua…) *Turns to Killua*

Killua: *Tries to act cool* What?

Kurapika: *Red eyes* **Killua, what is down there in that forest?**

Killua: Um… Mike and other wild animals… the butlers… oh shoot.

Kurapika: **What is it?**

Killua: If Big Bro comes home now…

Kurapika: **WHAT?!**

Killua: *Runs away* It's about time for me to go back to see if anyone got the treasure! BYE!

Kurapika:** Come back here! ***Chases after Killua*


	6. Chapter 6

I opened my eyes slowly as sunlight streamed into my eyes and I groaned while doing so. Blinking a few times, I found myself inside a bush and I wondered what I am doing inside a bush. Thinking back… oh right, I was taking the hunter exam. I grimaced as I crawled out of the bush and collecting my things, why did I chose a bush out of all the places to stay for the night? It was just like the time seven years ago… I pinched myself. Don't think about it, focus on the exam. Standing up, I patted some dirt and leave off my clothes and tried to recall what happened the night before during the exam… I sighed, I can't remember anything. Only the fact I was almost killed by something big, furry, and strong. I can't recall anything else. Rubbing my head, I glance around at the surroundings, trying to find a hint on what I did the night before. Nothing.

I yawned and stretched in the sunlight, I like this place better while it was day, much less eerie and dangerous. I walked up to the river and splashed some water on to my face to wake myself up. I stared at the river for a while, and then a bit of memory from the night before came back. Right, I was running away from something or someone and I ended up here, and there was a tall person with long hair standing across the river… was there? Sighing, I got back on to my feet and started my search for chocolate once more. I frowned; the time limit is almost up… I better hurry.

I walked along a path in the forest, trying another attempt to read the map Killua-san gave us. Then I sensed a presence in front of me, and I looked up, seeing a man clad in a black suit and tie. I blinked; I think I saw that person before… oh yeah! That is the butler, Gotoh-san I think. Then I remembered something Killua-san said… the butlers will be lined up to the boarders of the map to make sure no one passes. I looked at the map and back to Gotoh-san, and tilted my head; I'm already at the boarder? Gotoh-san seemed to have already noticed me and walked up to me in a professional manner, "Hello there. You must be one of the participants, care to play a little game?"

I stared at Gotoh-san for a while, not sure whether I should say yes or no, then I remembered Killua-san said that if we meet a butler here, they will test you and if you pass the test, they will give you a chocolate. Gotoh-san noticed my hesitation and started to explain the game, "The game is simple, but you might have to risk your life when you play it. You may forfeit now and fail the exam and get out alive, or you can challenge the game now and have a risk in losing your life. Your choice."

I frowned a little, thinking if I forfeit now, I wouldn't be able to see Kurapika, so I looked up to the butler and said, "Ok, I'll play your game."

Gotoh-san took out the coin from his pocket, "This game is simple. I'll flip the coin and catch it; you'll have to guess which hand as the coin. If you guess it correctly three times, you get the treasure. But if you guess incorrectly one time, I'll have to kill you."

I gulped; I really have to try my luck now. I took a deep breath and nodded. Gotoh-san flipped the coin and caught it, "This is a sample, which hand has the coin?" I pointed to his right hand and he grinned, "Correct. Now I will be serious this time." He flipped the coin again and moved his hands around before catching it, "Which hand?"

"Left."

"Correct, now I will go a level higher."

He flipped the coin and moved his hand ten times faster than before around the coin then stopped, with steam coming out of his hands, "Which hand?"

I gulped and tried a guess, "Left…?"

"Correct, now for the last round." Gotoh-san called two other butlers to come and he flipped the coin. The three butlers moved their hands around the coin in a speed faster then what my eyes can follow. I swallowed and tried to see where the coin is, and then they stopped their movements at the same time, "Who has the coin?"

I looked at one butler to the other, trying to guess who has the coin in his hands. Examining each person with great care, like how Kurapika examined each person to choose which person to take to the Outside World to complete his test, with one hand on my chin and the other on my hip, I tried to make a decision. The three butlers stared back at me, and then Gotoh-san spoke, "I'll give you five seconds to choose, if you don't, we will consider your answer as wrong."

"WHAT?" I exclaimed, "Er… Um… Uh…" I frantically tried to make my guess.

"Five…"

"Uh…" I glanced from one expressionless face to another.

"Four…"

I closed my eyes and tried to replay what happened when the coin was flipped.

"Three…"

I stared at one hand to another.

"Two…"

I waved my hand around to point at a person…

"One…"

"Gotoh-san! You have the coin!" I pointed at Gotoh-san.

At first, the three expressionless butlers stared at me for a moment, and then Gotoh-san smiled, showing his hands, one of them has a coin, "You are correct." Then the other butlers also smiled and clapped their hands to congratulate me for my victory from near death. I sighed in relief and gave a big smile. Gotoh-san put his coin back to his pocket and took out something, the chocolate I was looking for. He handed it to me and I took it gratefully, now all I have to do is to go back to the testing gate without getting the chocolate stolen. The butlers bowed to me as I started my way back to the gate, with me waving good bye to them.

I walked along a path, looking at the chocolate and wondered why Killua-san would choose a chocolate to be a treasure instead of something else like a gem or something. Then I noticed that someone was following me ever since I left the butlers, so I turned around quickly to see who it is. I caught a movement so fast and so inhuman, I wasn't sure if the person following me is a person at all. I blinked, recognizing the presence, but couldn't pin point who it belongs to. One of the butlers maybe? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and continued down the path, full of caution. Once I felt the presence again, I turned and called, "Who is it?" My guess was correct, it was one of the butlers, in fact, it was Gotoh-san.

"Gotoh-san?"

"I see you have caught me, the young master have ordered us butlers to keep an eye on the participants who have received a chocolate."

"Killua-san didn't tell us though…"

"It's an order for us butlers only."

"I see… then I will pretend I didn't notice you so you can carry on your job."

I turned to continue walking down the path, glancing behind me after a second to see if Gotoh-san is still there, but he's already gone. I looked around to see if I could find him, but I couldn't even sense him around me. I shrugged, he's not going to hunt me down, he's only keeping an eye on me.

After a few minutes of walking, I felt a very familiar presence near me, Tompa-san's presence. I frowned, why do I always feel Tompa-san's presence and not any other presence around me? I turned into the direction where Tompa-san's presence is and caught a glimpse of his clothes. "Oh, hi Tompa-" Before I could finish my greeting, I heard a squeak of fear in a bush and a big sound of something running away, "-san?" I tilted my head, why did Tompa-san ran away? Maybe he saw Gotoh-san and ran away… but it seems like he's afraid of me… oh well. I'll just ask him back at the gate.

By the time the sun got high into the sky, the testing gate came into view. I made a big sigh of relief; soon I'll be out of this dangerous forest of the Zoldycks. When I got to the gate, I found no one over there. I shrugged, that was to be expected, the people who already found the chocolate would be hiding so no one could steal it from them. Looking around, I looked for a place to hide until it is a few minutes till the time limit was up. I looked up a tree helplessly, nope, can't hid in a tree. I looked at a bush regretfully; I guess the bush would be the only option. I crawled under a bush and sat there with a perfect view of the gate. I took out a book from my bag and felt the pages, my eyesight turned worse, so I can't see the words anymore. I sighed as I felt the bumps on the pages, remembering the content of the book, as if I am really reading it again. I grinned; I read this book too many times, now I remember the story by heart.

After what I guess was an hour later, people started to come out of their hiding spots and stood near the gate, so I too also crawled out of the bush. It seems like the time limit is almost up, so we better hurry and open the gate before we all get disqualified. I walked towards the gate, counting the presence around it. Huh, only ten people are here, what happened to the rest of the group? From what I remember, there were about twenty five people in the group… I gulped, no way… so many people died? I shook my head, no, in this place, ten people surviving is already a lot, considering all the weird things in here. Then these ten people must be strong. I looked around for Tompa-san, well not really looked, considering my eyes, to ask him why he ran away from me when I greeted him. When I found him standing around in a corner of the group, I tried walking up to him, but when he noticed me, he gave a panicked look and tried to stay as far from me as possible. I tilted my head, confused, why does he want to run away? I'm not as scary as Kurapika… or at least I hope I'm not.

"Alright! Let's open this gate and get the hell out of this damn mountain!" shouted a person.

"YA!" all the other men pumped their fists into the air, determined to pass this phase and exam.

I shrugged; guess I can ask Tompa-san when we get out of this forest. I glanced behind my back for a moment, as if someone was watching me. I guess I should assume that was Gotoh-san, but it felt like more than one person is watching me, around five I guess? I can't be sure. Maybe there are security cameras around here to see how many people are still alive. I thought about the possibilities of who could be watching, Gotoh-san, Killua-san, maybe Gon and Kurapika as well. I thoughts traveled to a bit of what I remembered from last night, the tall long haired man… could he be one of the Zoldycks? A possibility. Shrugged my thoughts off, I can think about it after I pass the phase and give the chocolate to Killua-san. Trying my best to not get in the way of the other men while trying to help them, the group got into positions to push the gate.

"On the count to three, we push, one… two… three!"

"PUSH! PUSH! PUSH!" chanted the men as they push at the gate at the same time "PUSH! PUSH! PUSH!"

The gate creaked and groaned, until… BOOM! The gate was once again pushed open and all the men tumbled out, landing on top of each other. I managed to not get squashed by the other men and quickly got up after falling down. Patting dirt off of my tribal clothes, I put on a big smile on my face, happy that I've survived in a family of assassin's land for one night and two days. The men got up as well, pushing each other and cheered, even more enthusiastically them me. Then suddenly, clapping sounds were to be heard, and all of us turned towards the sound.

"Amazing, ten participants managed to get in there and out without getting killed… maybe I underestimated you bunch a little," clapped Killua-san while shaking his head amazed, walking up to us, "I must give you guys a big round of an applause for doing that, but the important part is just to come, and I have a feeling I am going to have fun." Killua-san made an evil smile, "Who here got a treasure for me?"

I walked up to Killua-san along with five other people and we handed in our 'treasures', putting them on his hands.

"Oh? Only six? And I was excited for more treasure," Killus-san pouted and sighed, "but at least I'll get to have some fun…" he turned to the four men, including Tompa-san and gave them a big (evil) smile, "guess who's the lucky people of the day! You get to get tortured by Killua-sama personally, isn't that great?" He stepped closer to the cowering men, with electricity crackling on his fingers, "Now, who wants to go first?"

"H-hey now… y-you were really s-serious about t-torturing us for not b-bringing the c-chocolate?" asked one of the men who are about to get tortured. I was starting to feel really sorry for that group of men, especially Tompa-san, he looked horrified.

"Of course," Killua-san replied cheerfully, "its main purpose is to get you guys motivated to really go get the treasure, but I also have to keep my promise."

"W-what about the other people who didn't open the gate?"

"Oh, those weaklings gave up in the end, never found out the trick to open the gate. So they all failed and went home long ago."

"D-did they get tortured?"

"I did make fun of them for a while because they can't even open a gate, I mean, how hard can it be? They gave up too easily, but I didn't torture them, they left on their own will. Now, enough talking, I'm going to choose one to start first."

All the men jumped when they heard a crackle of lightning from Killua-san's fingers. Killua-san turned to Tompa-san first and smiled, "I guess you're the lucky one, your gunna get the torture first, I want to get this over with."

Tompa-san gulped and tried to run, but Killua-san appeared before him as fast as the lightning on his fingers, "Now, now, the torture didn't even start yet. Stay still."

Just when Killua-san was about to zap Tompa-san, Gon and Kurapika came running in the scene. "No, don't do that Killua!" shouted Gon, trying to stop Killua-san from hurting the participants.

"Why should I? That guy deserves it anyway, whether he has a treasure or not. I'm also training these weaklings to bear pain as well."

"Killua, even though you are doing it for their own good, I think you should give them a break. Look at them, they're terrified to death. I think going in there for one night is enough torture for them." Kurapika tried to persuade Killua-san from hurting the failed participants, "They already fail, give them a break." I watched Gon and Kurapika, who are trying to persuade Killua-san from torturing the failed participants. I prayed that their arguments would work on Killua, I really feel sorry for the men and they really do need a break. I noticed a glance from Kurapika as he talked, and I smiled back at him.

"But…" Killlua-san pouted reluctantly, "Can't I torture them a little bit? I've been waiting for this moment since the phase started… just a _tiny_ zap?"

"No." Kurapika and Gon said firmly at the same time.

"How about it," Killua-san argued, "I'll just give a tiny zap just to this old timer over here since he deserves it the most. You guys know what he did to the other rookies' right?" I blinked, Killua-san seems to really want to torture people, Tompa-san especially, but he's a nice guy, why do they want to torture him so much? I look sympathetically at Tompa-san, feeling really sorry for him.

Kurapika glance at Tompa-san then turned back to Killua-san reluctantly, "No matter how tempted I am to torture him myself, I still don't … sigh… fine, but just one _super_ tiny zap, in _normal_ people's definition too."

"WHAT?" wined Gon, staring at Kurapika in disbelief. Gon really don't want anyone to get hurt, I thought.

Killua-san put on a big grin on his face and turned back to the shivering Tompa-san, "You got it, only a _super_ tiny zap."

He lifted his finger like a gun, which is charged with electricity, and pointed it at Tompa-san. Tompa-san gulped and tried to run away again, but before he could do anything, Killua-san zapped him like he's shooting someone. ZAP! Tompa-san flinched a little when Killua-san zapped him with one _super_ tiny zap. All the other men who didn't bring chocolate back also flinched with him. With eyes wide with fear, he looked around at himself, like he couldn't believe he's still in one piece. I also didn't believe Killua-san actually zap him for real, I thought he was bluffing just to scare the participants and miss them purposely to scare them again, didn't his family teach him to not hurt people just for pleasure? I shook my head, denying myself, I can't question about his family. I learned long ago that some people in the Outside World have unfortunate lives to make them as cruel as this, but I still can't believe people would actually do that.

Killua-san didn't look satisfied with his zap, but shrugged it off and announced, "Okay, since you bunch who can't even find a single treasure is defended by Gon, you all can go home now, torturing time is over. All the participants who were in the same boat as Tompa-san sighed in relief at the same time, glad that they didn't get shocked.

I too also sighed in relief, now I won't have to hear the cries of people getting… never mind, don't think about it. I glanced at Kurapika, who also happen to be glancing at me but turned away when he caught my glance, for a moment and sighed. Then I remembered I wanted to ask Tompa-san a question and glanced in his direction, but when he noticed my glance, he quickly ran away. He already left before I could do anything… who knew that that guy could run as fast as that? I sighed; now I can't get my answer… guess there's no use for that question now.

"As for the other people… the blimp for the final phase will be here soon so just sit tight and wait while I eat," Killua-san said while picking up one of the chocolates, "Time to eat!"

The five people who passed the phase with me stared at Killua-san, "Did you tell us to find that freaking chocolate so that you can eat it?"

"Of course, or then that will be a waste, oh yeah, and Gotoh, tell Canary to go pick up the chocolates that were not found."

"Of course young master."

I jumped when I heard Gotoh-san reply, I knew he was behind me, but he was so still and quite that I forgotten he was there. Then I heard the sound of a blimp and felt the wind rise. Killua-san sighed and put the chocolates and hands in his pocket as he got up to go into the blimp which just landed. I followed him, noticing Kurapika and Gon are also getting into the blimp, and found out how close Gon and Killua-san are. I got onto the blimp along with the other five men and looked out the window, barely making out the mountain as the blimp took off and disappeared into the clouds. The announcer in the blimp blared, "Hello, this blimp will be taking you to the final phase, it will take about a day or two until it will get to its destination. You may rest and do what you want to do while you wait. Thank you." I sighed after the announcement finished, exhausted, and walked towards a room to rest. As I put my stuff down, I steeled my resolve to talk to Kurapika on this blimp tomorrow. I have to know what he had been up two these past few years, but I need to rest first before I can do anything. I smiled at myself as I went into a deep sleep.

* * *

Um... a question to my super awesome special readers, what do you want to have as the final phase? Please write a review to give me some suggestions, I'm brain dead right now... :3 No review, no new chapter! MUAHAHAHAH! JK, I really want to continue to write this, so please send me some ideas to get me going! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

I ran through the forest, the forest at home where we used to live in. "Wait Kurapika! Wait for me!" I called after my blonde friend who is running in front of me, a few paces ahead. "Catch if you can!" he called back to me, and ran even faster. I smiled and charged after him catching up to him little by little. Looking ahead of me, I noticed that in front of Kurapika is just empty sky, "Wait Kurapika! Stop!"

"Ha! I'm not going to fall for that trick!"

"No Kurapika! Stop!"

I ran after him, stretching my arms in front of me, trying to grab Kurapika's shirt to stop him from running, then the scene changed, it sun disappeared along with Kurapika, leaving me tumbling over a tree root, springing my ankle. I winced and the smell of blood hit me. The forest was stained with blood, and the screams of the massacre reverberated through the trees in the dark. Long shadows appeared, and the sound of machine guns blasted through the air. I tried to get up, but only fell down again. I turned, seeing twelve long shadows of different shapes and sizes nearing me, each with their own type of weapon. The one with a book in his hand reached out for me as a closed my eyes…

* * *

"Ah!" I sat up from my sleeping position, screaming and bumping my head on the wall. I blinked, hearing the soft roar of an engine running. I blinked again, and noticed that I am not inside the forest back at home anymore, but at the blimp in the Hunter Exam, waiting for the final phase to start. I rubbed my head, _ow…_, I thought and frowned, that dream again… it's already been six years since I've had that dream, I wonder what does that mean? I can't even remember what happened after Kurapika and I were doing after running in the forest… ah, no use. I can't remember.

Looking around, I noticed that the sun is already up and I got up, preparing to have some breakfast… I glanced at the clock and checked the time, ah… almost lunch… I guess I'll have a branch then. I stretched my back and yawned, picking up my stuff and walking out the room. I walked down the hallway in the blimp, looking around to find the dining room. Huh, why is the blimp so big? Come to think of it, it's my first time getting on a blimp, not counting the second phase. I've always ridden the trains and buses the years before… I should enjoy my time in here. Ah… I guess I might have plenty of chances to ride a blimp if I pass the exam.

Walking down the hall, I noticed a door with the sign "Dining Room" on it and sighed, I was getting very hungry… when was the last time I've eaten? Pushing the door open, I walked into the room to find a seat to put my stuff and get something to eat when I noticed one of the tables occupied by four people; Gon, Killua-san, Kurapika, and an old man with a long beard who I don't recognize. They seem to be watching something intently. Gon seem to have noticed my approach and waved at me, beckoning me to go to their table. I smiled at them and walked up to their table to see what they were watching. I glanced at Kurapika's direction for a moment, but he was looking out the window. I sighed.

"Hi Pairo! Come here and look at this!" Gon pointed at a screen on the table. I glanced at the other people, Kurapika was staring out the window, Killua-san was eating some chocolate and eyeing me suspiciously, and the old man was stroking his beard.

"Uh… I can?"

"Of course you can! It's not like some top secret super important stuff! Right Chairman-san?" Gon looked at the old man with the beard.

"Ho ho ho, sure!" He replied, stroking his beard.

I widened my eyes, so that man is _the_ Chairman, the strongest man in the world that we know of! I bowed respectfully at the man, "Sorry for intruding your time, Chairman-san!"

"No no, it's ok, we're only looking at what happened during the third phase to see what skills the people left has!"

"Um… then that means I'll be cheating if I-"

"No you won't!" Gon interrupted me, "Chairman-san didn't even decide what to do for the final phase yet! So it won't count as cheating, Chairman-san even allowed you already!"

"Okay then… I guess."

I looked at the screen, only to see a blur of trees in the dark. Then two red dots… I think, appeared and disappeared, moving around and blinking. I widened my eyes when I saw the dots, thinking back when I waked up in the bush during the third phase… oh no, how could I lose myself like that? I glanced at the people on the table nervously. Gon misinterpreted my glance and looked at the screen where the red dots are.

"Oh, so you noticed that too," Gon said, scratching his head, "We've been wondering what it is for a while now, but I still think they were flashlights."

"BA-KA~" Killua-san poked Gon's head, "who would get red flashlights when you can get white ones, they work much better and those dots are too dim to be flashlights." He gave me another suspicious glance.

"Then what is it?"

"I dunno," Killua-san leaned back on his seat, "but it is defiantly not flashlights, right Kurapika?"

I glanced at Kurapika to see his answer, but all he did is getting up and announcing, "I'm going back to my room," with his eyes closed and walked away, leaving the four of us behind. As Kurapika walked away, I stared after him with a sad look on my face. Gon noticed my look and waved his hands, "Ah, Kurapika must be tired! Don't mind him!"

"BAKA~ you're only making it worst Gon."

"Wa! But I'm trying to help!"

I turned back to the people in their tables and smiled, "It's okay, I don't mind. Come to think of it, I haven't eaten yet, see you later Gon, Killua-san, and Chairman-san, thanks for letting me see the video." I bowed and walked away to an empty table, putting my stuff down and going to the counter to order my food.

"Ah wait!"

I turned and Gon called, "We were going to have a meeting on the final phase in the afternoon, about three o'clock, but we can't do that without Kurapika, so can you go tell him when you're done eating?"

I smiled, "Sure!"

Gon gave me thumbs up and turned back to Killua-san and started to talk with him. I sighed again, hearing my tummy grumbling. I went up to the counter and ordered some simple food; a sandwich, a salad, a bowl of corn soup and orange juice. I took my food, thanking the server and paying the money, to a table with my things. I gobbled my food down, thinking of how I should approach Kurapika if he won't even look at me. I sighed again, noticing that my food is already gone and got up to find Kurapika.

I walked down the long hallway in the blimp once again, searching for Kurapika's room. Why does the blimp have to be so big? I should have asked Gon where Kurapika's room is, and then maybe I could have found him already. I laughed weakly at myself; even if I asked I still would be searching for him, I can't even read a map very well. Sighing at myself, I continued to search the blimp. As I searched, I saw the participants left in a different room, clustered together and talking to each other. When I was about to walk pass them, they seem to have noticed me and one of them called out, "Hey there! Come here for a moment, we want to talk about the final phase, care to join?"

I looked at them uncertainly, not sure if I should join them or tell them I'm busy, and then I checked the clock to see I have the time, seeing that it was only one o'clock, I nodded and waked up to the other five participants.

"So, how about you introduce yourself aye? My number is 12, and my name is Akio, this is my fifth try." said the man who called me to join them; he is a big buff guy with a friendly face.

"I'm Haru, my number is 303, and this is my fourth try," said the man with short black hair and wearing army-like clothes.

"236, Ren, second," nodded the man who looks like a strict martial artist teacher.

"I'm Ponzu, 199, fourth try," said a girl with a big yellow hat and pink clothes.

"Todo, 58, seventh try," said a big, er, man with a pony tail.

"Ryu here, number 461, fourth try," said a man with spiky hair and a sword on his waist.

Akio-san nodded and turned to me, "Now you are…?"

I looked from one man to another, "My name is Pairo… and my number is 507. This is my first try."

Akio-san nodded again and turned back to the group, "Well, what do you know, we got one rookie over here, pretty amazed that you can survive all the way here, he even pass Tompa!"

I just stared at Akio-san, what does he mean pass Tompa-san? But before I can think anymore, Haru-san nodded in agreement, "Wow, this rookie must be a strong rookie, even though the average times a rookie passes is one every five years. I heard a few rookies already passed two years ago, I wonder if this rookie can pass this final exam."

"Hey hey now, the rookie's here you know," Akio-san continued to talk, "Anyway, we're here to discuss what the final phase could be, not to fawn over a rookie. It's my first time getting to the final phase, anyone of you had experience on the final phase?" He looked from one man to another.

"H-hey now, don't look at me, it's only my fourth try while you had five tries, I failed at the first phase last year… but the farthest I got is the third phase." Haru-san waved his hands in front of him when Akio-san's gaze went to him.

"Ah, that's no good, I failed at the first phase last year as well, the farthest I got was the fourth phase, this year's exam seem to be shorter than the others," Akio-san mumbled. "How about you other people?"

"Nope, I failed at the first phase last year, and I think everyone here except for this rookie here failed last year," replied Ponzu-san. She glanced at me, or maybe my clothes, when she said rookie, I didn't think that was necessary since I'm the only rookie here… oh well. I guess she thought my clothes look strange.

"I guess you're right, but what do you think the final phase could be?"

"I don't think there's any use trying to guess what the final phase could be, that old man is crafty," grunted Todo-san, munching on some food.

"I have to agree with you," agreed Ponzu-san.

"But I think we can guess what it is by looking back on the other phases," cut in Ryu-san, glancing at one person to the next, "Like the first one is a test of patience and skills on keeping something alive."

"I don't see the use of that though," mumbled Todo-san.

Ryu-san continued, ignoring Todo-san's comment, "and the second phase is a test, literally a test, of knowledge." No argued on that one.

"And the third phase is a test of survival, strength, and skills in searching for treasure, which all hunters need to know," finished Haru-san, "So what do that mean?"

"Now all we need to do is to figure out what we are not tested on," answered Ryu-san.

"I still don't think we should be guessing on the final phase, the chairman is full of surprises," said Ponzu-san reluctantly.

I sighed as the participants argued what the final phase could be and on whether or not to try guessing, which caught the participants' attention. They all turn towards me, glaring. "What are you sighing about rookie?!" Huffed Todo-san, "Come on, tell us!" I glanced at one person to another, "Well, Akio-san said that we're here to guess what the final phase could be, and all we're doing here is arguing."

"Well, stop being so stuck up and tell us the point," grumbled Todo-san.

"Ah, I was just thinking that there's no way we can guess out the final phase, just as Ponzu-san said. Gon, the first phase examiner, told me that they tried to guess what the final phase was but was completely wrong."

"But I can't just sit around waiting for the phase…" argued Akio-san, "Sigh, fine, to make things faster, those of you who think guessing the final phase is useless can go, those who still want to guess can stay. Though I still think it would be more effective if we discuss this together…"

Once Akio-san finished his statement, Ponzu-san, Todo-san, Ren-san, and I got up to leave. "Then I will take my leave, thank you Akio-san for letting me join the group though," I bowed to Akio-san.

"Naw, you don't have to be so formal, I just thought having all of us gathered would be nice. Anyway, good luck to you," Akio-san waved at me. I bowed again to the other participants and left the room, continuing on my search for Kurapika.

* * *

Still have no idea what to put for final phase. Only got one review... so if my dear readers don't mind, I will use that suggestion. If you guys have any more ideas though, I will be glad to see it! (not saying that the suggestion is bad, it's just too vague that I don't know what kind of race to put...) Review if you want to share an idea! :3


	8. Chapter 8

I stood in front of Kurapika's room. I finally found it, I thought. I fiddled with my shirt, what should I say to Kurapika? What if he won't even look at me and just slam the door in my face once he opens it? What if… BANG! BANG! BANG! My chain of thoughts and questions got interrupted by loud bangs from Kurapika's room. Uh oh, what's Kurapika up to now? From the sound, I can guess Kurapika should be banging his head on to the table or wall, probably table, right now. I better stop him before he loses any brain cells. Forgetting about my nervousness, I knocked at the door to Kurapika's room. The banging stopped, followed by a weak voice a few seconds later, "Who is it?"

"Ano…," I pondered how I should start, and decided to tell him the truth, "its Pairo."

"…" No reply.

I took a deep breath and continued, "Kurapika, the Chairman is looking for you to talk about the final phase with the other examiners in the dining…"

Before I could finish my sentence, the door flung open, revealing Kurapika in his normal clothes on the other side. Without giving me a single glance or a nod in acknowledgment, he turned towards the dining room and stormed off. I sighed as I stared after him, how can I talk to him if he refuses to even look at me? I looked at a nearby clock, hm… its almost time for dinner… man; did I really take such a long time to find a single room? I guess my tracking and searching skills really suck that bad, I hope the final phase won't have anything to do with tracking and searching…. I turned towards the dining room to have some dinner, then suddenly remembering that the Chairman could be discussing about the final phase with Kurapika and the others right now. Not wanting to disturb their discussion, I turned towards the other direction, where the other participants are supposed to rest. I guess I'll be skipping dinner tonight.

I walked quietly down the hall, wondering how I should talk to Kurapika after the exam. The head on approach is defiantly out of the question, it didn't work when I'm just giving him a message. Maybe I could just pretend to ignore him and see how he'll react… no that won't work. Knowing Kurapika, he'll just probably ignore me too and never give me a chance to have a conversation with him. Then, maybe threatening him? That might work; it always worked on him when we were back at home. But then, Kurapika might've changed in these past years, and he certainly did, so this way will just be one possibility. It might not work on him right now. I'll need a few more if I really want to talk to him, incase if threatening won't work. I guess I could… ouch! I fell on to the ground, landing on to my butt, after bumping into a person. I hurried and got on to my feet to apologies to the person I bumped, "Sorry sir! I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay?" I bowed multiple times.

"Well, if it isn't number 507 Pairo," laughed the man, "No need to bow so many times aye rookie?"

I looked up, recognizing the voice, "Oh! It's Akio-san! Sorry that I bumped into you."

"Hm? You didn't recognize me until I talked? Well, I guess you were too busy bowing." Akio-san teased, "And just call me Akio, no need for honorifics."

"Um… ok," I pondered whether I should tell him that I have eye sight problems and decided against it (he'll probably underestimate me that way), asking him a question, "Did you find out what the final phase is going to be?"

"Ah, no we didn't, the chairman is just too unpredictable. We tried asking him questions to get a hint, but he won't say a thing."

"Ah ha, that's to be expected (the Chairman didn't even decide what to do yet… I thought, but I didn't say it). Won't it be cheating if he told you ahead of time anyway?"

"Well, I guess you can say that, but if he did tell me anyway, I would've announced it to everyone already."

"I see."

"Well, when you bumped into me, you seem to be thinking very hard that I thought your brain would be fried. What cha thinking about? Maybe I can help you."

I waved off the offer, "Ah, no need, it's not a very big problem anyway. But thank you for the offer."

"Oh come on! We have like two days left of free time, and I don't want to spend my time worrying over the final phase. Gemme a distraction," Akio persisted.

"Um, then what if I told you I was thinking about the final phase? I don't think that would help you," I questioned Akio.

"Well, I don't think you would be since you yourself thought it was useless to be thinking about it. Come on; tell me what you're thinking!"

"Then what if I was thinking about how I could pass the final phase with my abilities?" I gave him another possibility.

"Then I will tell you that you would be fine, you even survived in assassins' territory. What can stop you when you can survive in there?" Akio retorted, and then paused, "Wait, don't tell me you were worrying over that all this time!"

"No no!" I shook my head, "I was just now, but not the whole time. I was just exploring the blimp since it's my first time staying in one overnight." Well, it wasn't entirely true, but not entirely false ether. I kind of feel guilty for lying to Akio; he was just trying to be nice. I sighed, checking the time again, wow, it's already pretty late, I think I better go back to the resting room. I look up to Akio, "Um, it's already pretty late; I think I should go back to the resting room to rest now. Have a nice day!"

"Well, I'm going to hang around a little longer, good night to you!" Akio waved at me as I walked away. I waved back at him and walked all the way to the resting room. I looked inside, it seems only one or two people are in there. I walked into the room and sat down on a spot on the ground. I lay down into a comfortable position; I guess it's time for me to sleep.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of an announcement, "Ho ho ho! Good morning everyone! Did everyone have a nice sleep? This is the Chairman speaking, and I will be announcing something! Ok, this morning I would like the participants to go into my room one by one to be questioned. You will be going by the order of your number, least to greatest. Be sure to come at ten o'clock on the dot!" The announcement ended.

I yawned and stood up, stretching my back and cracking a few bones. I blinked sleep out of my eyes as I head towards the dining room to have breakfast, boy I'm starving! Remembering that I skipped dinner the day before, I practically ran to the dining room to get some food. Once I stepped into the room, I made a sharp turn towards the counter to order food. Once again, I ordered simple food, and a lot of it. Taking it to the nearest table, I sat down to gobble down my food. Was I ever this hungry before? Oh well, think later, first eat.

After draining my cup of water, a sighed in satisfaction and looked around. Hm, what was the announcement just now? Oh yeah, it was the Chairman, and I think he said that he wants to question us in his room at like ten o'clock. And I think he also said something about going in order from least to greatest. Looking at my tag, I sighed again. Looks like I will be the last one to be questioned, I wonder what I should do while the other participants are being questioned? Knowing the Chairman, the questioning isn't the final phase, he'll probably tell us to do something crazy. Well, I hope he won't, but he probably will. I think I might not pass this year's exam… oh well, I can think about that later. First, what to do? Looking at the clock, it's only a few minutes until ten o'clock, I guess I could wait in front of the Chairman's room and read a book, nothing else to do other than worrying about the final phase or thinking up ways to get Kurapika to talk to me. Oh wait, where's the Chairman's room? Oh no, I guess I'll have to look for the other participants so I can find it faster, since there is only a few minutes left till the questioning.

I got out of the table and started to search for one of the participants so I can find the room. I first went to the resting room to see if anyone's still there. No one. Then I turned to the bathroom, again, no one. Maybe everyone is already at the Chairman's room waiting to be questioned. I'm so screwed! Wait, if everyone is already at Chairman's room, then all I have to do is to find the place with the most people. Well, the place where the participants are anyway. I continued on my search until I spotted one of the participants, Ponzu-san I think. Then I spotted the all the other participant, except for Akio. So the questioning already started… good thing that I'm last so I'm not too late, if I was first, I wonder what kind of lecture I'll get.

I nodded my head in greeting to the other participants before I find a spot to sit down and read. I guess all I could do now is to read, if I go anywhere I might get lost again and be late for the questioning the Chairman will give me. I wonder what kind of questions the Chairman will ask in the questioning… hump, I can't think of anything. I guess I don't know the Chairman well enough to guess what he's thinking about. Opening one of my books, I waited for my turn.

* * *

"Hey, it's your turn."

I looked up from my book when I heard someone call to me, seeing Ryu-san standing in front of me. It's already my turn? That was quick. I didn't even go far in my book yet. I nodded thanks to Ryu-san for calling me and got up to go into the Chairman's room. Then the nervousness kicked in. I took in a deep breath and knocked the door. "Come in," called the Chairman. I took another deep breath as I push the door open and walked into the room. The room is quiet small compared to the other rooms in the blimp. I guess the Chairman doesn't need a big room since he's by himself. I looked around the room, spotting the Chairman sitting behind a table cross-legged. He motioned me to sit in front of him. I sat down on the pillow in front of him, fiddling with my shirt. I looked up to the Chairman, waiting for him to ask his questions. At first the Chairman did nothing but stare at me, sizing me up as if trying to read my mind. My mind happened to be blank at the moment, only wondering what questions the Chairman wants to ask. Then the Chairman chuckled, making be jump at the sudden sound. "Now now, no need to be so nervous around me. I'm just a harmless old man who wants to ask some questions about you," chuckled the Chairman.

Yeah, just a harmless old man, I thought sarcastically, keeping the thought to myself. I only nodded in response out of respect to the elder. The Chairman studied me for a while before moving on, "I guess you're wondering why I called all of you in to question you. Well, since you're still young, I don't want to be wasting your time. I'll go straight to the point."

The Chairman took out a piece of paper and a brush, and continued, "Now, all I need is one thing, and it's okay if you don't wish to answer my question truthfully." He paused and glanced at me, I nodded in response, ready for what the question might be. He gave me a small smile, "What is your fear?"

"Huh?" I blinked at the Chairman a few seconds later.

"What is your fear?" the Chairman repeated his question, waiting patiently for my answer.

"Um…" I thought over the question for a while, tapping my chin. I never thought about that before, about my fear. What _am_ I afraid of? I looked through my memories, looking for a fear other than worrying about Kurapika getting injured or getting in trouble for something stupid, that won't be interesting for the final phase now will it? Then I thought about the third phase, where I lost control and went through a rampage in the forest, and of course, was when my eyes turned scarlet. Ah, so that was my fear. That could probably be the reason why I never thought about my fear, way too scary to think about. I looked up to the Chairman to give my answer, "I know you said I could lie about my fear, but that won't be interesting for the final phase will it?"

The Chairman chuckled, "You know me well, I was hoping to get the real answers, I can usually tell when someone's lying or not. I suppose telling the truth will take some time, and admitting your fear can take up a lot of courage; even I have trouble admitting it. Everyone has a fear, if not many, only that some can hide it better than others. Now, will you tell me your fear?"

I tapped my chin, "Well, I never thought about it before, so I'm not sure how to describe it, but I guess I should try."

The Chairman nodded in reply, waiting.

I took a deep breath, "I guess, in short, that my fear is seeing my love ones getting hurt and that I can't do anything about it."

The Chairman raised an eyebrow, "That's quite a common fear, can you be more precise?"

"Well, it's kind hard to explain, what I just said is basically what it is in a simple form, you can say my fear is much more complicated than that."

"Go on. There's plenty of time to tell your story."

"It's not much of a story to tell," I shrugged, "Have you heard of the Kuurta Clan?"

The Chairman nodded.

I continued, tapping the table, "Do you also know what happened to it seven years ago?"

The Chairman nodded again, but with eyes darkening at the mention of it.

I took another deep breath, choosing my words carefully and looking down, "I'm scared to have that happening again; I'm scared to witness something like that. To see a group of people getting massacred brutally and not doing anything about it, unable to do anything about it, especially if the group of people are very important to me. I'm also scared of the Phantom Troupe, I'm afraid of what they can do to people."

I paused, replaying what I just said, making sure I didn't leak anything about being part of the massacre. I don't want people going around knowing that I've survived a massacre, and that I'm from the Kuurta Clan. Sure, I'll say I came from a tribe or clan, but I won't tell which. That would only put my life in danger.

I looked up to see the Chairman's reaction. The Chairman happens to be taking notes with a very serious expression. Then he looked up with a jolly face, "Well, that's quite a fear, very scary indeed, I hope you'll be able to control it one day, you know what will happen if things get out of hand." I nodded, taking his advice seriously; fear can do scary things to people, especially the kinds of fear that has something to do with protecting someone or something. The Chairman finished up his notes, "You can go now, enjoy the rest of the time on the air ship!"

I bowed to the Chairman and got up to leave. When I got to the door, I turned to the Chairman, "You will be using the fears for the final phase right?"

The Chairman chuckled and waved me off, "You'll know when the time comes, now go on and enjoy your day."

I smiled, "Yes I will Chairman-san, have a nice day to you too." And I walked out the door.

* * *

So first of all, I know that I'm not suppose to put author notes in my story, since its against the rules and guidelines, but I just can't help myself! I HAVE to express my thanks to my reviewers, but since they are mostly guests, I can't private message my thanks. ;) I hope you guys won't mind me stating my thanks in my story.

Okay! Dear my honorable reviewers:

Thank you so much for reviewing, and don't worry, I won't stop my story until I finish it! I'm glade you all like my story, it really makes me happy. Well, even if no one reviews it, (I'm sure people are just shy or that they don't know what to write in a review (like me sometimes :P)) I'll still write the story out of pure enjoyment. So don't worry! I just need time to think up more ideas to write. :P

Anyway, sorry for the late update, please understand. Didn't get much suggestions for the final phase so I had to think for myself, I don't know the Chairman well enough! :( Sorry if you people don't like the final phase, as you know, the Chairman is indeed too unpredictable for me to guess what he'll do for the final phase. I could only think up of this.

On the side note, lemme ask my dear readers a question, do you prefer Pairo and Kurapika's meeting to be a serious meeting or a humorous meeting? Just wondering which is better. Please review so I know what you people think. :D


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